Boston Marathon

The Boston Marathon is the oldest annual marathon in the world and, for everyday runners, the most prestigious. Learn more.Here’s what you need to know to gain entry to and train for the Boston Marathon.

Field Size and Composition

Since 2015, the marathon has had a field of 30,000. In 1996, for the 100th running, the race had just more than 38,000 entrants. In 2014, the year after bombings at the finish line, there was a one-time expansion to 36,000.

Although women weren’t officially allowed to register until 1972, the field is now almost evenly split between men and women. In 2015, 46 percent of entrants were women.

Of the race’s 30,000 entrants, roughly 80 percent are time qualifiers and roughly 20 percent are charity runners.

Entering With a Qualifying Time

Since 1970, the primary way for runners to enter the Boston Marathon has been with a qualifying time from another marathon. The standards have changed over the years, but they have always been seen as a challenge for everyday runners. For many, getting a Boston qualifier (or BQ) is a lifetime running achievement.

The current standards (seen below) have been in place since 2013:

Age Group

Men’s

Women’s

18-34

3:05

3:35

35-39

3:10

3:40

40-44

3:15

3:45

45-49

3:25

3:55

50-54

3:30

4:00

55-59

3:40

4:10

60-64

3:55

4:25

65-69

4:10

4:40

70-74

4:25

4:55

75-79

4:40

5:10

80+

4:55

5:25

For more on all the qualifying standards, including the qualifying window and what makes a certified course, click here. A list of top qualifying U.S. marathons can be found here.

How registering for the race works

For the last few Boston Marathons, there have been more qualifiers seeking a bib number than there are spots available (roughly 24,000) for time qualifiers.

Registration for the following April’s marathon usually opens in mid September. Time qualifiers can register on a rolling admission schedule, beginning with the fastest qualifiers. First, starting on a Monday, runners who have met the qualifying standard for their age and gender by 20 minutes or more can register. Two days later, registration opens for those who have met their qualifying standard by 10 minutes or more, if space remains. If more spots are left, registration opens on that Friday for those who met their qualifying standard by five minutes or more. If space remains after the first week of registration, registration re-opens for all qualifiers on the following Monday, and remains open for three days.

For the 2016 marathon, 28,594 time qualifiers submitted an entry, and 4,562 were not accepted. For the 2016 race, runners needed to better their age and gender qualifying mark by 2:28 or more, showing that a BQ time doesn’t guarantee entry.

If you have more questions about the registration process, check out our FAQ here.

Entering as a Charity Runner

The BAA sets aside a few thousand numbers for runners affiliated with one of the marathon’s official charities. (For the 2015 race, it was 2,585.) These runners do not have to run a qualifying marathon.

The charities are given numbers to distribute to runners, who usually pledge to raise a substantial amount of money for the charity. These runners go through the charity they’re running for, rather than the qualifier registration system, to sign up for the marathon.

Find our guide to the Boston Marathon charity program here and on the race website here.

A Brief Look at the Course

The Boston Marathon is revered—and feared—as much for its course as its history. The quirky, point-to-point route passes through eight cities and towns.

Casual fans know about Heartbreak Hill, the last of the four hills found in the town of Newton, which fall between the 16- and 21-mile marks of the course. This series of climbs is considered among the most challenging in any popular marathon.

Boston Marathon veterans speak with equal concern about the race’s significant downhills. (Overall, the course has a net elevation drop of 459 feet.) The first half is predominantly downhill, as are the last five miles. Training for Boston (see the following section) must therefore incorporate uphill and downhill running.

The rolling nature of the course also makes proper pacing challenging. Given the relative easiness of the first half, hitting 13.1 miles on pace for your goal time should mean that you won’t have pounded your quads into obscurity early on and that you’ll have plenty of fight left for the Newton Hills.

How to Train for the Course

Because of Boston’s course, you’ll want to tailor your marathon training plan to its demands. For a typical marathon, you can succeed with a steady diet of long runs, tempo runs, intervals, and recovery days. You can find our marathon training plans to help you reach a qualifying time here.

For Boston, you’ll need to add the ability to run up and down hills when tired. You can find our Boston-specific training plans here (by time goal) and here (good regardless of your time goal).

Race Date, and a Little History

The Boston Marathon is held on Patriots’ Day, the third Monday of April.

The race was first run in 1897, and has been run every year since. Members of the Boston Athletic Association, which has been the race organizer from the outset, were inspired by the 1896 Olympics to put on a new running event, the marathon, that had debuted at those Olympic Games. They established a 24.5-mile route from Ashland, Massachusetts, to downtown Boston. In 1924, when the marathon distance was standardized at 26 miles, 385 yards, the start line was moved farther west to Hopkinton. The finish line has always been in Boston, albeit in four different locations over the years.